Legal document: T-S 12.606

Description

Legal document. Partnership record. Dating: 1085 (per Goitein's index cards). Written in the hand of Hillel b. Eli (probable, per Goitein). This document is the end of a deathbed declaration in which the dying man accounts for the assets due a partnership in a lead foundry. Apparently the dying man kept an account book; while some assets were held jointly between the dying man, his brother Abū ‘Alī, and one Abū al-Khayr, other assets (including a claim against someone named Yāqūt for 11.5 dinars) were held only between the dying man and Abū al-Khayr. Although Abū al-Khayr may not have been the sole active partner, the document declares trustworthy concerning profit and loss, a phrase often applied to the active partner in a long-distance partnership. Perhaps he had to relinquish some control of the enterprise in his final days as he was ill. His death is recorded on lines 9-10. Although the death of a partner is a sufficient condition for termination of a partnership in Jewish and Islamic law, the typical termination clauses are absent. Rather, the dying man’s brother is to take his place and the partnership is to continue, suggesting an inheritable or transferable, quasi-corporate aspect to the partnership. (Information from Lieberman, "A Partnership Culture," 113)